Work with your discovery data

Choose the right discovery solution for your needs.

ServiceNow SAM integrates with many discovery solutions. The primary
requirement? You need to load discovery data into the Software
Installations table [cmdb_sam_sw_install]. The Software Installations
table links the software data to the correct hardware CI in the
ServiceNow CMDB. Your ServiceNow Professional Services team or
implementation partner can help you find the best fit for your requirements.

ServiceNow recommends three specific options. These options may
offer advantages depending on your current investments, ease of
integration, and the environments you want to inventory.

Recommended for the data center: ServiceNow Discovery

ServiceNow Discovery offers the following advantages:

No integration required– Because ServiceNow Discovery
shares the same platform as SAM, you don’t have to create and
maintain integration points between them.

For changes in how Discovery stores data with
the SAM plugin activated for Jakarta and Kingston.

Recommended for Windows desktops and laptops: Microsoft SCCM

Microsoft SCCM offers the following advantages:

Ubiquitous – Many companies use Microsoft SCCM to inventory
and manage Windows desktops and laptops.

Integration provided by ServiceNow – ServiceNow maintains
SCCM integration with the ServiceNow CMDB using ServiceNow MID
Servers. Customers using SAM Professional can configure the
integration to populate software installation data into the CMDB
tables that SAM uses.

When you’re ready to optimize your purchased entitlements,
ServiceNow SAM can use metering data from SCCM to help identify and
locate rarely used software. SAM compares this metering data with
thresholds set in reclamation rules, adding little‑used software to a
list of removal candidates. You can then use the reclamation option to free up entitlements.

Additional resources

Learn more about activating and configuring Microsoft SCCM
Integration with SAM for Jakarta and Kingston.

Learn to avoid common issues when using SCCM and ServiceNow
Discovery together for Jakarta and Kingston.

Recommended for Macs: Jamf Pro Discovery

For Mac environments, Jamf Pro Discovery offers the following advantages:

Common solution– Many use Jamf to inventory and
manage Mac environments.

ServiceNow Store– Integration with Jamf is available
in the ServiceNow Store.
While this release specifies compatibility with the Helsinki and
Istanbul releases, you can customize it to accommodate later
releases. Alternatively, you can create a manual integration
solution.

Additional information

For general information on integration with third‑party applications
and data sources, refer to the ServiceNow documentation site for Jakarta and Kingston.

EXPERT TIP

Use SCCM for the Windows desktops, Discovery for the data center, and
Jamf for Macs.